Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for this important question. As I mentioned a week ago, Service Canada will accept claims from those affected by the wildfires. They can apply even if they do not have a record of employment. They can access employment insurance. We will do everything we can to ensure that these workers receive EI.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to note that there are, in fact, two members of my colleague's caucus who have had babies during this Parliament and who have actually been able to participate fully as members of Parliament after giving birth because of the hybrid option available. Since he and his party are opposed to it, I would like to understand how he proposes that his colleagues participate following giv…
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Mr. Speaker, I will grant the member that he is good at alliteration, but what he clearly cannot do is see the policies that are actually helping Canadians. What Canadians need to know is what the Conservatives plan on cutting, because they are talking about services and supports for Canadians. We are there for the lowest-income, most vulnerable Canadians. We have cut poverty for children in this …
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Mr. Speaker, contrary to the Conservatives, when we see Canadians struggling, we say, “Let us figure out a way to help them.” The Conservatives say, “Let us do nothing” and sit on their hands. We have put forward several initiatives to help Canadians, including the increase to the Canada workers benefit, the doubling of the GST tax credit, the grocery rebate that 11 million are going to get as of …
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Mr. Speaker, it is important to be clear about what the government has spent money on. When the Conservatives talk about those deficits, those deficits were spent on such things as CERB, the Canada emergency response benefit, or the Canada emergency wage subsidy, which quite literally kept households afloat during the pandemic. When it comes to what we are spending on right now, we are spending on…
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Mr. Speaker, unfortunately what Canadians know is that the Conservative way of doing things is one of throwing up their hands, sitting down and saying, “Let's do nothing“. Actually, no, “Let's cut”. That is the Conservative way of doing things. Let us cut the Canada child benefit. Let us cut the thousands of dollars that Canadian families are saving when it comes to child care. Let us cut the groc…
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Mr. Speaker, in fact, the government is doing the right thing. We are fighting climate change, and we are working to make life more affordable for Canadians. We understand that there is neither a future economy nor a future for Canadians if we do not tackle the climate emergency that we are facing. We can actually all taste the smoke from the forest fires in this chamber right now. This is unprece…
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Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance said it quite well. It is shocking, but I guess it is not, because the Conservatives continue to deny climate change. They continue to deny the fact that we need to act when right now, here in Ottawa, we are feeling the impacts of the forest fires. The Conservatives continue to put their heads literally in the sand and typically say, “Let us do nothing”. We do …
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Mr. Speaker, I, too, was very pleased to see the opening of the Prince George passport office. There will be about 20 additional offices that will be providing passport services across the country over the coming months. I do want to commend the leadership of the Government of British Columbia when it comes to workforce. It has some very innovative ideas when it comes to recruitment and retention.…
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Mr. Speaker, as my hon. colleague knows, I was here for the report stage debate and can attest that no new arguments came from the Conservatives during the six hours of debate, so I do not think we are rushing anything. Let us recall that the only thing the Conservatives were looking to amend was the short title of the bill, which actually does not propose any real amendment to the legislation. If…
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague's question is one that stumps all of us. During the report stage debate, the Conservatives kept saying that they care about child care, yet they were doing everything they could to delay the advance of Bill C-35. We believe very strongly in making sure this legislation is in place. As my hon. colleague was referring to, one of the very first things that former prime …
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Mr. Speaker, what I can say is that the substance of Bill C‑35 falls squarely within federal jurisdiction. It does not impose conditions on the provinces and territories. This bill is exclusively federal in scope. We have an excellent relationship and an excellent agreement with Quebec. It is an asymmetrical agreement with the Province of Quebec recognizing its leadership on child care and early l…
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Mr. Speaker, I would say through you to the member and those moms that this is exactly why Bill C-35 exists. It is so typical of the Conservatives to say there is a problem, throw their hands up and do nothing. What Bill C-35 would do is commit the federal government to long-term funding to create additional spaces to make sure there is that access right across the country. In fact, included in th…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Kingston and the Islands is right. There is only one political party in this country that is opposed to it, and it is the federal Conservatives. Every provincial Conservative party has signed on to the early learning and child care agreement. It does raise the question as to what is wrong with the federal Conservatives that makes them not believe in affordable, acces…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague for her collaboration on Bill C-35. It has been an absolute pleasure to work with her on advancing this bill. We have had many conversations, and I share her deep commitment to ensuring that workers are fairly compensated and have the supports they need to thrive as child care workers. Workforce supports are indeed part of each of the bilateral …
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate my colleague on the birth of her second child and welcome her back to the House. It is great to see her here with her baby. I would just like to set the record straight, though, because there is actually nothing in the legislation that would prevent flexibility. In fact, in her home province of Alberta, when it comes to auspice, there is a mix of for-profi…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the NDP members as well as the Bloc Québécois members for their support, because we are going to be able to move forward with Bill C-35 despite the delay tactics of the Conservatives. For all of the reasons he mentioned, it is important to move this legislation through the House so that we can ensure Canadians have access to high-quality, affordable and inclusive…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague held my position before me and I know he is also a champion of child care and early childhood development centres. This is an excellent question. We are seeing results already. Since November, more women have been active in Canada's workforce than ever before. Part of the reason is our early childhood and child care program. We are seeing an increase in women's economic e…
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Mr. Speaker, of course the affection for my hon. colleague is mutual. I also feel inspired and deeply respectful toward her as well. I understand where she is coming from. I do not think this is something we want to do, but unfortunately the Conservatives have forced our hand in a way, because they are not letting good legislation through simply by the fact of being opposed to it. As I said, there…
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Mr. Speaker, I find it very unfortunate that my hon. colleague is not basing his question on facts, because when I was at committee I was very clear that we have created 50,000 new spaces across the country. In fact, we do have reporting in the legislation. The legislation requires the government to report on an annual basis as to the progress we have made. I can tell the hon. colleague that acros…
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Mr. Speaker, I think there are two things that need to be separated. There are the five-year agreements we signed, and there are laws, which have no expiration date. The important thing is that this bill applies to the federal government. It does not apply to the provinces and territories, which have their own laws because that is their jurisdiction. The amendments proposed by the Bloc Québécois t…
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Mr. Speaker, I am genuinely excited about this. This is a really exciting nation-building project that we are embarking on. All 13 provinces and territories have signed on. Are there challenges? Certainly. Is this legislation working to fix them and to create a vision of access to early learning and child care across the country? Absolutely. It is looking to grow our economy. We know that for ever…
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Mr. Speaker, I do not have the specific number for the member's county, but I could send it to him today if he would like, with regard to what Ontario's plans are for opening new spaces for the county and municipality by municipality. This program has only been in place for just under two years, but let us remember that Ontario only signed just over a year ago. It was the last jurisdiction to get …
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague asked a very good question of the Conservatives during the report stage on what the amendment was that they had proposed, and they were unable to answer. I congratulate the member for that. In response to the member's question, the agreement that we have signed with British Columbia commits British Columbia to creating 40,000 additional child care spaces. What I woul…
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Mr. Speaker, I am not sure there was a question in there, but I do not mind actually sharing with the Conservatives—
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Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives know that it is actually the contrary. Since we have come into office, we have lowered taxes for middle-class Canadians, and we have increased benefits for low-income Canadians. We have also lowered child poverty by half since we came into office in 2015. It does not mean that we do not know there are Canadians who are struggling, which is why, on July 5, we will be …
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Mr. Speaker, at a time when the country is literally on fire and tens of thousands of Canadians have had to flee their homes, it is incredulous that the Conservatives continue to denigrate efforts to fight climate change. I am sorry, but it is hard to believe them when they say they take the environment seriously. It is even harder to believe them when they talk about affordability, because every …
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Mr. Speaker, I also do not mind providing a bit of a history lesson to Conservatives, because, in fact, when the Liberals left government in 2006, they left the Conservatives with a big, healthy surplus. What did the Conservatives do? Well, they actually brought in years of deficits while cutting services and going through a global recession. On the other hand, what did we do? We invested in Canad…
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Mr. Speaker, I am not sure my hon. colleague asked a question there, but I do not mind enlightening him on the measures that we have taken to help Canadians with the high cost of living. For example, we brought forward the Canada housing benefit that helps millions of Canadians who are low-income renters. We brought forward the Canada dental benefit that has helped over 300,000 Canadian children a…
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Mr. Speaker, I am honestly not sure what the member opposite is talking about. I did not refer to someone being present or not in the House. I was referring to questions in question period.
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Mr. Speaker, what is exceptionally disappointing from the Leader of the Opposition is that at a time when families in Alberta are experiencing some of the worst wildfires in their history, he is railing against policies that are helping to fight climate change. When he talks about that single mom, unfortunately, he has opposed sending her the Canada child benefit, which has put thousands of dollar…
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Mr. Speaker, this is emblematic of how the Conservatives acted when they were in government. They spent more time on symbols than on action. When it comes to our veterans, what did they do? They closed nine veterans offices across the country. When it came to cancer, what did they do? They did not make any investments. What did we do? We invested in the Terry Fox Foundation. When the Terry Fox sta…
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Mr. Speaker, we understand that Canadians are struggling right now and that there is a high cost of living, but, unlike the Conservatives, we are actually acting. We have put measures in place, like the Canada child benefit, like the climate action incentive, like increasing the guaranteed income supplement, like the new grocery rebate. We are actually acting to help Canadian families at this time…
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Actually, Madam Speaker, when the country was on fire, so to speak, because we were experiencing the biggest health and economic challenge in a generation because of the COVID pandemic, our government came with a fire extinguisher. We were there to support millions of Canadians, whether through the Canada emergency response benefit, whether through the Canada emergency business account or whether …
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Madam Speaker, the point my hon. colleague has missed is that this increased spending was to serve Canadians during the pandemic. I know the Conservatives have forgotten that there was a pandemic that sent big shock waves through the economy and the health care system, but our government was there for Canadians during the pandemic. We made sure they received income supports, and we were there for …
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Madam Speaker, the only thing the Conservatives did when they were in government was that they balanced the books on the backs of Canadians. They did nothing when it came to helping Canadians get out of poverty. In contrast, what we have done is help lift 450,000 children and a total of 2.7 million Canadians out of poverty. At the height of the COVID crisis, do members know what we did? We were th…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for that question. Unfortunately, by law, passports are not considered essential. I am being honest with Canadians in telling them that passport applications cannot be processed during the strike. However, we understand that this has an impact on the lives of Canadians. That is precisely why we are at the bargaining table with the union. We want to resolve this …
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Mr. Speaker, it is a bit hard to take the Conservatives at face value when they talk about Canadians in poverty, because when the Conservative government came into power in 2006, it was 17th in the OECD when it came to child poverty rankings. By the time Conservatives left office nine years later, they had fallen to 24th. They had actually done nothing to alleviate people who were living in povert…
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Mr. Speaker, I think what is particularly concerning about what the member opposite is saying is that the public service grew at a time when Canadians were in their darkest hour. We are talking about a once-in-a-generation pandemic. We supported, and those same public servants supported, 8.5 million Canadians to access the Canada emergency response benefit. Those same public servants supported Can…
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Mr. Speaker, in difference to the Conservative members of Parliament, on this side we actually respect workers and we respect their rights. We are at the negotiating table right now to ensure that we get a fair deal for Canadian taxpayers, as well as for the hard-working public servants who have been there for Canadians, particularly in their moment of need, particularly during the worst economic …
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Mr. Speaker, as my colleague mentioned, I would like to confirm that Tuesday, May 2, and Thursday, May 4, shall be allotted days.
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Mr. Speaker, let us be very clear. Since the day we took office in 2015, we have been there to support Canadians. We have put in place the Canada child benefit, which helps nine out of 10 Canadian families and has lifted 435,000 children out of poverty. Most recently we brought forward the Canada dental benefit and, so far, 250,000 children have been able to access the dentist. When it comes to ch…
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What is really disappointing, Mr. Speaker, is that the Leader of the Opposition has already told Canadians that he is voting against this budget and he is voting against them, because what he is voting against is a grocery rebate for 11 million Canadians. What he is voting against is dental care for nine million Canadians, including children, seniors and people with disabilities. What he is voting…
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Mr. Speaker, if the Conservative members of Parliament really cared about the cost of food, they would do something really simple, which is support this budget, because in it there is a grocery rebate for 11 million Canadians, which would help them with the high cost of food. If the Conservative members of Parliament cared about the high cost of living on families, they would have supported our Ca…
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Mr. Speaker, what Canadians deserve is a government that is going to respond to them in their time of need. That is exactly what we are doing with this budget, and that is exactly what we have been doing for the past seven and a half years. Just as the Conservatives voted against the Canada child benefit, which provides up to $7,000 a year for vulnerable families, they are voting against Canadians…
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Mr. Speaker, when the Conservatives were in power, an additional 2.7 million people were living in poverty. When the Conservatives were in power, Canadians received family benefit cheques, but had to pay tax on them. Our government increased the Canada child benefit without taxing it. This represents up to $7,000 a year for families with children under six.
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Mr. Speaker, as a government, we understand these are challenging times for Canadians. It is why we have put important measures in place to help Canadians, like doubling the GST tax credit that has helped almost 11 million Canadians across the country to deal with the high cost of everything; like the Canada child benefit that is indexed to inflation and that increased last July, because we recogn…
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Mr. Speaker, there are 2.7 million fewer Canadians in poverty today than when the Conservatives were in government. That includes 450,000 children, thanks to the Canada child benefit, in which a child under six could receive up to $7,000 a year. Let us talk about our child care agreements that have cut fees by 50% for families across this country, which could be up to an additional $6,000 for fami…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to take my hon. Conservative colleagues at face value when they say they care and want to show compassion to Canadians, but when they have had the opportunity over the past eight years, every single time they have voted against Canadians. Whether it was the Canada child benefit that has helped lift 450,000 children out of poverty, they voted against. Whether it was loweri…
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Mr. Speaker, I have been sitting in this chamber for the last seven and a half years, as many of my colleagues on the other side have as well, and what I remember is that we have put several measures on the floor, which helped Canadian families, that the Conservatives voted against. Whether it was with the middle class tax cut, the reduction of taxes for small businesses or the increase to the Can…
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